CIT Students’ Union MagazineVolume Nineteen, Issue 4

Your Union Your Voice

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:Game Of Entreprenuers

Bobby Kerr InterviewNStEP Launch at CIT

WIN! Restaurant Vouchers

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Happy Christmas

EXAM DE-STRESS CIT SU

5th - 7th Dec

TIMETABLETUESDAY 5TH DEC

11am-1pm MASSAGE IN THE MAIN CORRIDOR

WEDNESDAY 6TH DEC12pm-2pm

PUPPY ROOM (Room TBC)

THURSDAY 7TH DEC11am-3pm

CHRISTMAS MOVIES Meeting Room 1,

1st Floor Student Centre

EACH DAY11am-3pm MINDFULNESS COLOURING &

DE-STRESS PACK GIVEAWAYS in main corridor 11am-3pm QUIET ZONE in the Curve Gallery,

1st Floor Student Centre

Not these guys!

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CONTENTS

CIT Students’ Union, Bishopstown, Cork.Tel: 021 433 5274 Web: www.explicit.ie Email: supublications@cit.ie

CITSU @cit_suexpliCIT Production, Design & Advertising Keith Brown, E: supublications@cit.ie

CIT SU President Sam Dawson E: supresident@cit.ie

VP Education Stephanie Kelly E: sueducation@cit.ieVP Welfare Stephanie Fogarty E: suwelfare@cit.ieProjects Officer Sam Power E: suprojects@cit.ieCommunications Officer Rob Shaw E: sucommunications@cit.ieEntertainments Officer Shauna Hickey E: suentertainments@cit.ieEntertainments Manager Mick O’Mahony E: Event@cit.ie

Advertising OpportunitiesCIT has 17,000+ full and part-time students with over 1,500 staff. Why not use expliCIT to promote your business to this large audience? Our copy deadlines, advertising rates and techni-cal specifications are available from our website www.citsu.ie and upon request from the Publica-tions Office in hardcopy or via email.

expliCIT magazine is published monthly by CIT Students’ Union. The views expressed in the magazine are those of their authors and are not necessarily those of CIT Students’ Union. All articles and pictures are the property of their respective owners and should not be reproduced without their permission.

4 �SU�OFFICERS’�ADDRESS5 USI�UPDATE6 #MYSTORYMATTERS�

Real stories, real people 8 GAME�OF�ENTREPRENEURS

Money is coming!

9 BOBBY�KERR�INTERVIEW10 CIT�SPORTS�ROUNDUP

Semester One

12 NStEP�-�NATIONAL� STUDENT�ENGAGEMENT�PROGRAMME Launch hosted by CIT

15 RAG�WEEK�IS� COMING�SOON! Our chosen charity is Down Syndrome Centre Cork

16 FLYNNERS�FLYING� COLUMN

18 CROSSWORD Hard cash on offer!

19 SPOT�THE�BALL WIN! meal vouchers for Captain America’s and Cork’s newest restaurant, WOWBURGER!

Last issues winners: Sorcha Twomey, Bus Admin and Shannon O’Donovan, Bus Admin. Sean Freeman, CEng1

NEWEXAM DE-STRESS 5th - 7th Dec

TIMETABLE

CIT_SU Your Union Your Voicecitsu.ie

#SHOWMEYOURMENTALHEALTH

SEND YOUR SNAPS TO CIT SU USING OUR HASHTAG

YOUR SNAPS COULD BE FEATURED IN

EXPLICIT AND ON CIT SU SOCIAL MEDIA

GREAT PRIZES TO BE WON!

WEDNESDAY 6TH DEC12pm-2pm

PUPPY ROOM (Room TBC)

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ENSURE YOU KNOW WHERE

THE EXAM IS BEING HELD

AND WHAT TIME IT STARTS

(TRY TO BE EARLY TO GIVE

YOURSELF TIME TO SETTLE)

MAKE SURE YOU GO TO THE

BATHROOM BEFORE THE EXAM BEGINS.

MAKE SURE YOU READ THE

INSTRUCTIONS ON

THE PAPER BEFORE

YOU START THE EXAM!

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR THE EXAM (PENS, STUDENT ID,

AND CALCULATOR ETC.)

EAT NUTRIENT RICH FOODS AS THEY WILL HELP YOUR BRAIN TO REMAIN SHARP AND WILL ALSO HELP YOU

TO FOCUS MORE.

Is your Student Leap Card due to expire in December 2017 (Orange Card)?If so beat the queues and be ready – get your new card from the SU now.To speed up the process even more you are invited to make an application for the SLC online via mobile at www.studentleapcard.ie/applybymobile Input your own details, take your own photo, make the declaration, and agree to the privacy statement and terms & conditions. Once an application is made, you will receive a short code via email. Then call to the SU with the code to have your cards instantly processed. Alterna-

tively, you are also most welcome to fill the form out at the SU and let the SU staff enter your details and take the photo for you.

LEAVE TIME AT THE END OF THE EXAM TO READ OVER YOUR ANSWERS.

Hey guys, As the first semester nears and exams are com-ing close we have a host of activities and givea-ways to help briefly divert you from that all impor-tant study. There’ll be puppies (queue the awhs here), massages, Tayto sandwiches, fruit, water and of course advice on offer. While a certain amount of stress leading up to exams can be a positive, it is essential to manage this so that you do not become overwhelmed (see page 6).Please make yourself aware of your exam time-tables, exam locations and of the exam regula-tions No phones in exams, the consequences are simply not worth it. Drop your phone into the bag drop centres with the rest of your belongings.MTU A number of MTU Information sharing and dia-logue sessions have been held over the past while. These events represent the first phase of staff engagement and discussion. We intend to make arrangements for similar information ses-sions to be organised for students – watch out for more in Semester 2. Rag Week Down Syndrome Centre Cork has been selected as the main beneficiary of Rag Week this year. A very worthy cause (see page 15) and one we hope to raise as much funds for as possible, all while offering you a fantastic programme of events. Rag Week will take place in March 2018 but we will run a series of fundraising events prior to this. Everyone’s support is encouraged and

will be very much appreciated.Garda ClinicsCIT Campus Liaison Garda, Brian White, will regular clinics on the main corridor offering ad-vice and support on matters including; passport applications and signing of forms, driving license applications, certified true copies and any con-cerns student or staff may have. This is a new and welcome initiative this year and the clinic was very busy on its first run in November.Sparq at CIT EventsOver the last number of weeks CIT SU have been working with AnSEO (The Student Engagement Office) and with the heads of Faculties, Schools and Departments to host a number of Sparq at CIT events. These events help to ensure learning at CIT is supported to the highest standards, and give staff and students an opportunity to share their experiences; discussing what’s good about learning & teaching, what could be improved and how that might happen. NStEPThe National Student Engagement Program net-work launch took place in CIT recently. CIT are proud to be one of the five pilot colleges of the programme which has now grown into 23 mem-ber colleges across Ireland. Read more about the launch and NStEP in this edition of ExpliCIT.Body & Soul CampaignOur Body & Soul Campaign delivered in Novem-ber highlighted an increase in student engage-

ment/awareness around mental health. Over 30 students and staff were trained

in suicide awareness through a Safe Talk course. There was also various safe spaces that had been created throughout the week including a movie room. The movie room had everything from bean bags to popcorn and many students mentioned how nice it was to have a quiet space to go to relax and even have a quick power nap. In the main hallway we had a station where we asked students to swap their negative thoughts for a positive one. Many students stated they felt relief by actually writing their negative thoughts down and throwing them away in exchange for something positive. As part of our Body & Soul Campaign we also launched a new initiative which we are super excited about. The #show-meyourmentalhealth has officially been initiated. We started this with students writing one word that represents mental health for them. The hope of this mini campaign is to encourage students to use their social media platforms to send us “self-ies” or pictures that show them doing something positive to balance the stresses of the day and we hope to display these photos in our monthly ExpliCIT and on our own social media platforms.

Best of luck with your exams and of course we want to wish you all a very happy Christmas and peaceful New Year,Sam Dawson, Steph Fogarty, Steph Kelly, Sam Power, Shauna Hickey & Rob ShawYOUR SU Executive

FIND RELAXATION TECHNIQUES THAT WORK FOR YOU FOR EXAMPLE; DEEP BREATHING, MEDITATION OR LISTEN-ING TO MUSIC.

AVOID PEOPLE WHO ARE STRESSING AND YOU YOURSELF FEEL

STRESSED, REMEMBER TO BREATHE SLOWLY.

STUDENTS’ UNION OFFICERS ADDRESS

IF YOU GET STUCK ON A QUESTION MOVE ON AND

COME BACK TO IT.

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TU Bill - The Joint Oireachtas Com-mittee is still deliberating on amendments to the Technological Universities Bill. Amendments on the definition of a student and how student representatives are se-lected have been accepted. Amendments on the definition of a Students’ Union, and on the number of student representatives on Governing Body and Academic Coun-cil, have not been accepted. These will be rewritten and put through the Seanad. An amendment to include a nominee of USI on Advisory Panels considering applica-tions to merge was accepted.

SU Autonomy - USI are in consul-tation with the Department for Education and Skills with the aim of developing a supportive framework for Students’ Un-ion autonomy and accountability, based on the Scottish model. USI will be host-ing a workshop on SU autonomy at the upcoming Board Meeting of the European Students’ Union, which brings together 45 national Students’ Unions from across Europe.

Higher Education Funding - The Joint Oireachtas Committee for Edu-cation and Skills are currently drafting recommendations on the Cassells Report, with a report for the Minister expected by Christmas. USI and Students’ Unions have met with members of the Committee over the past 18 months, organised Lob-by Days, submitted evidence, presented to the Committee, and held two national demonstrations outside Dáil Éireann. We hope to see these efforts and the views of students reflected in the final report.

Mature Students Seminar - USI held it’s Annual Mature Students’ Seminar in DIT, and a number of students participated, with modules covering time management, career guidance, key study skills and mature student supports dis-cussed

LGBTI+ strategy moving to the Department Negotiation stage. Over 4000 students and young people have responded in consultations, including a Waterford consultation of students and young people!

Disability rights protestUSI called on students around the coun-try to support the Disability rights protest was run by the Irish Wheelchair Associa-tion, as Ireland has still yet to ratify the UNCRPD

GALA - USI received national recog-nition for it’s advocacy work on LGBTI+ issues and for Pink Training (held on 17-19th November this year in NUIG), the

largest event of it’s kind in Europe for LGBTI+ and questioning students

Postgrads - setting up Postgradu-ate Representation Network. Organising a large Postgraduate Symposium in late January, with sessions on postgrad cam-paigning, creating SUs that can better represent postgrads, sessions on post-grad issues like supervision, postgrad mental health, and the new postgraduate research survey from ISSE. We’ll also be hosting a debate on Brexit, Europe, and the future of student/academic mobility.

Further Education & Training - proposal to better engage and represent students FET including apprentices.

Education policy - working on a number of policy areas including develop-ing a National Student Charter or Partner-ship Agreement, looking at Student Com-plaints Procedures, and on institutional policies for assessment and feedback.

National Student Engagement Network launch in CIT, alongside the QQI, HEA, and NStEP. The network will bring together staff and students bi-annu-ally to help shape the future direction of building student partnership.

The ‘EducationIs’ Campaign - Launched the new national education campaign with a Facebook Live event on drop-out and retention in early October. The next step is the roll out of resources and a roadshow for exam success in De-cember.

Mental Health Research Sur-vey - first draft sent to steering commit-tee. This research will ensure we get data that can really go forward to try and tackle issues facing students.

SHAG packs being redesigned. USI have secured €15,000 in funding from the HSE for it.

USI Well-Being Month - starting January 29th with the Chats for Change Roadshow. The following week (5th-9th)

is Healthy Living. SHAG Week Road-show is12th-16th Feb. Alcohol and drugs awareness will be 19th-23rd Feb. We are distributing 30,000 condoms and 30,000 lube this semester. We have recieved funding from NOSP to run ASIST Training every quarter.

Accomodation - USI has given a comprehensive input to the National Stu-dent Accommodation Strategy, which was published in July 2017.

Homes For Study campaign took place that included reaching out to home-owners through leafleting in different parts of the country and the launch of the first student-led research report on student accommodation.- USI offered over 1,500 homes through

homes.usi.ie;- USI sent in a submission to Minister for

Employment and Social Protection, Re-gina Doherty on rent-a-room scheme and social welfare payments;

- survey to SUs getting feedback on homes for study campaign, the find-ings of which will feed into campaign’s report (to be published in the upcoming weeks).

Campaigns- Student Teachers Report - just under

3,000 responses - campaigning to get students financial support while on placement

- No Hate speech training & campaign- Education Is RoadShow- Preparing for Chats for Change- Housing & Homelessness Coalition -

planning a national day of action for 2018

- Union Development - conducting a SU wide report on SU workings & structures around the country

- Working with the INMO on getting an al-lowance of placement

- Working with the VP for E&C regarding the repeal campaign

- Working with the Saves 2 coordinator for the Student Swtich off project

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#MYSTORYMATTERSReal stories from real people

It’s coming up to exam time and we all know what that means… STRESS! Stress isn’t always bad but it depends on how you manage it. Sometimes a little bit of stress is what you need to hit those looming deadlines and to study for the upcoming exams. There is a fine line between just enough stress and stress overload. Reflecting on my own final year I had several assignments due in at the same time. Staying in control of my mind and study pattern was the most important thing otherwise I would have gotten to an unproductive point (staring at a com-puter screen for hours… that happened a few times). To counteract this, I used what was available to me. For example study spaces provided in CIT allowed me to stay focused as I was in a college setting. I also found the ways I am most productive regarding my study. I found a few playlists which I could study too so I had those playing in the back-ground. Flash cards also became a constant for a few weeks. Different coloured ones can help as you can use different colours for different subjects. It is important to vary what you’re looking at so you do not get bored and it keeps your mind ac-tive. I also would “treat” myself after doing 40 minutes of work, I would give myself a 10-15 minute break to get myself a cuppa or a drink of water (hydration is important as it improves your concentration), snacks were also an important thing, rice cakes and fruit became a constant on the late evenings. It was also horrible that I would wake up when it was dark and be studying until it was dark again. It was draining and going out in the daylight was a huge benefit to me even if it was just for a few minutes every now and then. I suppose to deal with the overall stress, I figured out what worked for me and what didn’t, but I also accepted that doing several hours of study made me less productive and even though I was terrified to take a break in case I fell behind, I had to make sure I took that break, to ensure what I was writing was relevant and that I wasn’t “waffling”. Be sure to look at what is available to you, do not isolate yourself and, stay in touch with your friends, especially those who might not be in an exam mind-set as they can help you switch off for a little bit. The next few weeks are going to be tough but don’t be afraid to ask for help, ask your lecturers if you are unclear about something, trust me they would prefer you ask as it shows you are making the effort to study. Ask others in your class if you do not understand part of a module. Also, the Students Union can provide study tips or offer support.You Got This!Steph, VP Welfare xx

EXAM DE-STRESSSelf-Care at Exam TimeIt’s that most wonderful time of the year, when the evenings are darker, the weather is wilder and the deadlines are looming ever closer. Whether you have assignments or exams or a mix of the two there are many simple ways you can look after yourself this exam season. Not all the ideas will appeal to everyone, you are the expert on yourself, so take what you need from this and share your own ideas with your classmates/ roommates/ chap looking a bit stressed in the library.

The BasicsWhen the work piles high and we become preoccupied with fulfill-ing criteria for various classes it can be very easy to lose track of our own basic needs. Setting reminders on your phone can seem a bit silly when it’s for the basics like drinking water or stretching but they do work. While you may plan to take a break when you reach a certain word count or read so many pages it can be helpful to take 30 seconds to stretch out your arms and legs, flex your fingers if you’ve been typing or gently roll your head from side to side to avoid neck pain. It can be tempting to stay up to finish an assignment or cram before an exam but all nighters can leave you less prepared in the long run. If you find yourself still awake at 3am consider using 90 minute sleep cycles to ensure you get the most from some shut eye. Sleep cycles are the stages our bodies go through when sleeping and waking up in the middle of one can leave you groggy and disori-entated all day. Sleeping for 90 minutes, 3 hours, 4 and a half hours or 6 hours gives your brain a chance to rest as well as your body.

Fuelling your study sessionsWhile it can seem appealing to fuel your study sessions with en-ergy drinks, coffee and sugary snacks the downside to these energy boosts is the crash that follows them. It may be more time consum-ing but it is definitely worth your while to walk a little further than the vending machine or spend a little longer packing a more bal-anced meal or snack which will ensure you feel fewer hunger pangs and are less distracted from your work. Splitting the cost of fresh fruit and veg with housemates or friends can help make this more achievable on a budget.

Beyond The BasicsSo your basic needs are taken care of, you’ve eaten, slept and stretched. Exam and assignment season can stretch on for several weeks depending on your course and simply looking after your basic needs during this time is often not enough. While you may need to scale back on social activities it is still important to get out and have some fun. Consider going to a party or event for an hour if you can’t take the full night off. Get outside and go for a walk or a run. Spend some time meditating or simply being still and listening. Watch an episode of a show or take a few hours and watch a movie. Colour a picture or play some music. Scream or shout at the top of your lungs for a minute (preferably away from the library unless you want an angry mob chasing you). Feed the ducks or pet an animal. Go for a drive and sing along to the radio. It’s only when we look after our needs and practice self-care that we can succeed and progress in college so take the time, treat yo self and give yourself your best shot.

Article by Gillian McInerneyGillian hails from the Northside of Dublin and has attended a vast number of educational institutions in the 10 years since she left secondary school. She has been giving workshops for over 8 years on a variety of topics but has a passion for self care, mental health and LGBTQ Issues. Gillian can usually be found drinking mint tea and playing Pokémon and has a knack for finding good places to nap. Twitter: @gillmac

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It was amazing to be able to attend USI’s Pink Training Weekend in Galway this year. There were so many different LGBT* workshops and talks going on that it was sad not to be able to attend them all. But the ones I chose where fantastic, informative and inspiring in a lot of cases. One that stood out to me was the HIV/PreP session with Adam Shanley from the Know Now Rapid HIV Testing Project. Though I volunteer and have been part of the Know Now Project, there’s still a lot of stuff about PreP that I didn’t know and to see someone (Adam) speak about sexual health in such a passionate way was very interest-ing. And it made me want to know more.As well as the workshops being so good, it was great to get to meet other LGBT* stu-dents and allies from around the country and build connections. But also, to get to spend a bit more time with my fellow CIT students and get to know them better was great. It’s funny how you can see people around college every day, even work with them in a society but not get a chance to really know them. So this really made us all a bit closer.Overall, it was an amazing experience and I really want to thank USI for organising such an open and safe event. And thank you to CIT Socs and CITSU for supporting the trip and making it possible for us to attend. – Konrad Im (CIT LGBT* First Year Rep) #CITSU!

What is Pink Training?So this was my fourth time attending Pink Training. Pink Training is the most amaz-ing experience but it also one of the most difficult experiences to explain so that the event is given justice. It is an event where you are 100% supposed to be there and 100% supposed to be yourself and be celebrated for who you are. Regardless of who that is. Everyone is welcome as long as you support equality and inclusion.I can honestly say that Pink Training is one of the main things I look forward too every year. It is the one event where I was in a majority rather than a minority member of society. The planning that goes into PT every year to ensure that every person is comfortable, safe and included cannot be compared to any other experience I have ever had. To find out more about Pink Training and how you could attend next year please contact the LGBT* society here in CIT (lgbtcit@gmail.com) and just to remind you… You do not have to Identify as LG-BTQI+ to be a member of this society. Al-lies are a huge part of the wider LGBTQI+ community and this should not be any dif-ferent here in CIT. You can join regardless of who you are or what you identify as. Just come as you are and with an open mind. Much Love, Steph, VP Welfare xxx

“My experience at pink training was that of an LGBT+ ally. When I was on the way and when I had first arrived I thought that I would be the only ally and worried that I would be invading a safe space there. I couldn’t have been more wrong, it became very clear pink training is for everyone. As the week-end went my insecurities faded, my enthusiasm grew, unfortunately so too did the sleep deprivation. I got to meet many different people, hear their sto-ries and experiences and make life-long friends from across Ireland. I learned such a variety of things from the impor-tance of pronouns in one of the many workshops, to getting tips on lasting a whole night in five inch heels and still be able to walk like a drag queen. There aren’t many events that I know of that you’ll learn that range of information in one weekend and pairing that with the immense fun and memories, I cannot recommend it enough.”

Pink Training

Cork’s Low Fares Taxi Company

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A three part series which in-cludes interviews from

well-known entrepreneurs, a ‘How To’ guide on becoming a Student Entrepreneur and lots more tips and tricks to becom-ing your own boss.

Keep a close eye out for details in the next issue of how you can WIN one of the prizes in Innova-tion Week from the 5th to the 9th March 2018.

Theres a total of €10,000 up for grabs... the overall prize is €4,000 but you can win lots of other priz-es aswell such as: Best Business Opportunity - €1,500, Best Con-cept - €1,500, Best Pitch - €500, Best Stand - €500, Social Innova-tion and Enactus Award - €1,000 Adjudicators Prize - €1,000.

M O N E Y I S C O M I N G

To learn more about Workbench or for support on getting your idea off the ground contact Laura Mellett our Innovation Community Manager

laura.mellett@boi.com

Thinking of creating a start-up?

Then kick start your creative ideas in Workbench, our city centre startup space that connects Entrepreneurs, Branch and Community by offering

free dedicated space for co-working, workshops and events to encourage

innovation and new ideas.innovation and new ideas.

Nimbus Centre Summer Internship Programme

Bobby Kerr

How did you come up with the idea for Insomnia? I was working in Bewleys for years and saw an opportu-nity. Coffee shops were big in the US and in the UK. So I left the corporate job and opened my first coffee shop at the age of 38 in 1998 on Grafton Street. I saw a change in the way people were drinking coffee. Before it was just black or white and there was no ‘takeout’ culture in Ire-land. There was in the US and to a lesser extent in the UK. I wanted to be the first player in Dublin.

What is your most embarrassing story? (Personal or business)

I was working in the coffee shop in UCD in the early 2000’s and I was at the counter and slipped on a teabag (or something) and took a high dive in front of about 3000 students in the school of business.

What is the worst customer experience you have had to date? I had a bad experience in a restaurant recently where the servers were oblivious to the fact that four tables had come in after myself and were served before my table. It was a significant wait and no one seemed to know what was going on and didn’t see a problem with such bad customer service. They were all completely oblivious.

Where did you come up with the name? It was developed by our building contractor at the time. The thinking was that it was a good association with coffee and coffee being strong and also that it was quirky.

How did you learn from failure?I was involved in the early 2000’s with a food franchise that began in Manchester called Red Café. We opened in Ireland. It only lasted about 6 months. We failed fast and failed quickly and paid everyone. We failed respectfully. We made sure everyone was paid. We opened in August and closed on Christmas Eve.

What advice would you give your 20 year old self?Don’t be afraid to step forward and take the responsibility that is offered.

The Nimbus Centre Summer Internship Pro-gramme allows students to experience what it is like to work on exciting research projects that could one day change the world! Interns get to work with highly experienced researchers in a large research centre, and are treated as a valued member of a research team. Interns also have the opportunity to work on projects for industry clients. We want our in-terns to gain valuable, real world skills under the support of an experienced supervisor.Our interns come from a wide range of CIT de-partments including multiple engineering dis-ciplines, computer science, multimedia, and business. Opportunities for CIT students are advertised through departmental co-op coordinators and applications will only be accepted through the co-op coordinators in response to specific ad-vertisements. For more...

www.nimbus.cit.ie/education/

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To learn more about Workbench or for support on getting your idea off the ground contact Laura Mellett our Innovation Community Manager

laura.mellett@boi.com

Thinking of creating a start-up?

Then kick start your creative ideas in Workbench, our city centre startup space that connects Entrepreneurs, Branch and Community by offering

free dedicated space for co-working, workshops and events to encourage

innovation and new ideas.innovation and new ideas.

Nimbus Centre Summer Internship Programme

Bobby Kerr

How did you come up with the idea for Insomnia? I was working in Bewleys for years and saw an opportu-nity. Coffee shops were big in the US and in the UK. So I left the corporate job and opened my first coffee shop at the age of 38 in 1998 on Grafton Street. I saw a change in the way people were drinking coffee. Before it was just black or white and there was no ‘takeout’ culture in Ire-land. There was in the US and to a lesser extent in the UK. I wanted to be the first player in Dublin.

What is your most embarrassing story? (Personal or business)

I was working in the coffee shop in UCD in the early 2000’s and I was at the counter and slipped on a teabag (or something) and took a high dive in front of about 3000 students in the school of business.

What is the worst customer experience you have had to date? I had a bad experience in a restaurant recently where the servers were oblivious to the fact that four tables had come in after myself and were served before my table. It was a significant wait and no one seemed to know what was going on and didn’t see a problem with such bad customer service. They were all completely oblivious.

Where did you come up with the name? It was developed by our building contractor at the time. The thinking was that it was a good association with coffee and coffee being strong and also that it was quirky.

How did you learn from failure?I was involved in the early 2000’s with a food franchise that began in Manchester called Red Café. We opened in Ireland. It only lasted about 6 months. We failed fast and failed quickly and paid everyone. We failed respectfully. We made sure everyone was paid. We opened in August and closed on Christmas Eve.

What advice would you give your 20 year old self?Don’t be afraid to step forward and take the responsibility that is offered.

Q&AQ&AQ&AQ&AQ&AQ&AQ&AQ&AQ&AQ&AQ&AQ&A

The Nimbus Centre Summer Internship Pro-gramme allows students to experience what it is like to work on exciting research projects that could one day change the world! Interns get to work with highly experienced researchers in a large research centre, and are treated as a valued member of a research team. Interns also have the opportunity to work on projects for industry clients. We want our in-terns to gain valuable, real world skills under the support of an experienced supervisor.Our interns come from a wide range of CIT de-partments including multiple engineering dis-ciplines, computer science, multimedia, and business. Opportunities for CIT students are advertised through departmental co-op coordinators and applications will only be accepted through the co-op coordinators in response to specific ad-vertisements. For more...

www.nimbus.cit.ie/education/

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Sports Scholarships PresentedFor the 2017/2018 academic year, 91 Sports Scholarships were presented on the 27th of November 2017 by Guest Speaker and Ker-ry legendary footballer, Colm “The Gooch” Cooper. Both male and female athletes from 15 different sports were recipients. These scholarships are awarded to students who display high achievement levels, commitment and dedication to their chosen sport and very importantly, loyalty to that sport within the In-stitute.It is hoped that the recognition will encourage recipients to continue to train at the levels re-quired, to continually strive for excellence in their chosen sport and ensure further sporting success, whilst also hoping that it will act as a further encouragement for students to con-tinue their academic studies and realise their full potential.

AFL (Australian Football League)Training is held once a week on Wednes-days out in The Farm, Curraheen at 6.15pm. Numbers for sessions tend to range from 10-15 players with NEW player always welcome to join. Our major competition is the Fitzpatrick Cup coming up in February. There will be also be a range of matches before and after this event. Any further information can be found at CIT AFL on Facebook.

BadmintonWe have trained hard and competed in many events including the IT league where the resulting are showing that the CIT A Team is lying second overall. We had great results from the ISBT’s Competition on the October Bank Holiday weekend, Chi- Thang-Phan-Tan won the doubles in cat-egory C, Dan Barry came runner up in the mixed competition in category B and Da-vid Mulcahy won the doubles in category B and joint 3rd in the singles category B

also. There were also a number of other result in singles and other categories. Training will continue every Monday and Tuesday in the CIT hall from 7pm to closing time for another few weeks. Every student attending CIT is welcome to come and join the CIT Badminton Club at any time. Any information on the CIT Badmin-ton we may be contacted on Facebook.

CanoeThe canoe club has been very active this semester, being on the water almost every Wednesday and Friday. Competing in the Inter-national Liffey Descent in September, with one of our members placing 1st in his category, along with two other top 10 finishes. We also had a member take part in the world paddle-surf championships in October.Next semester we hit the ground running, In-

tervarsities (Hosted in Dublin this year) are in mid February followed by Galway Fest in late March, both are opportunities for a great week-end of learning and fun. Our Friday sessions will continue, and as we get more daylight we will hope to paddle on more days of the week.

DartsThe darts club participates in a Cork Darts League against other dart teams, mainly pubs, as well as colleges to date. Some members also have participated in other small dart tour-naments which have been run by the Cork Darts Players Association. We will be looking to the league again when it restarts in January and other smaller events that are advertised in the near future. We train on Wednesdays from 7-9pm in the Common Room and we play league matches on the Monday night.

EquestrianWe had a very successful tetrathlon this year with competitors beating their personal bests. Everyone had an absolute wonderful time. Polo is starting up for the winter months if people would like to come along and give it a try. Last-ly, training for intervarsities will be starting up in February for Show jumping, Dressage and Prox Carrilli. If interested contact the Sports Office for an email/number for a committee member.

KarateWe hold training in the sports hall every Tues-day at 6pm at the moment. This is on-going and will give you a good insight into the basics and advancements of traditional karate while also allowing you to have a bit of fun, exercise and relaxation in your training. Recently we have had a new Black Belt received by one of our members Dylan. He has shown great dedi-cation under the guidance of his Sensei and

has continued his efforts at improving his karate with CIT Karate Club.

KickboxingTwo members competed in the World Championships in November, with one achieving a remarkable 3rd place. We train every Monday 7-8:30pm in the Sportshall. For semester 2 we plan to try and get as many people sparring and going to com-petitions as possible. All levels are wel-come and you don’t have to spar if you don’t feel comfortable with it people can join for the fitness and enjoyment of the sport.

PowerliftingDuring summer ’17, 8 members took part in the European Powerlifting Champion-ships. All members placed in the top 3 of their categories and qualified for the World Championships. In September, 3 lifters competed and placed in the National Full Power event. With one more competition in the 2017 calendar, we are sending 22 lifters to the Push Pull in Dublin at the end

CIT Sports Roundup For more info on any of our Sports Clubs please call to the Sports

Office, 1st Floor Student Centre.

Date for your Diary!

CIT STUDENTS & STAFF,

FUN WALK & RUNfor students & staff on

Wednesday 7th of March at 1pm. Keep the training going or start training!

Great fun guaranteed!

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of November. In Semester 2 we are sending 30 lifters to the National Single Lifts in Dublin, where we hope for qualification for the Euro-pean Championships. As well as this we hope to organise and compete in an intervarsities event. Training is in Tyco Gym on Monday and Wednesdays at 7.30pm.

RacquetballThe committee has been pleased with the par-ticipation in training this year. With new people to the sport we are happy with their progress and we are all looking forward to competing in the intervarsities in the New Year. Training is on Thursdays at 7.30pm in St Finbarrs GAA in Togher-contact Sports Office for details.

Sailing-CITCIT Sailing team and the NMCI Sailing team merge and sail together at a number of events. We’ve competed well at the first two major events in the IUSA calendar this year. This se-mester the IUSA Westerns were held by UCD in Wexford. It was a brilliant first event. We caused quite an upset when we beat Trinitys 1st team in the round-robin, we were the only team they failed to overcome on their path to victory. The Northerns were held by Queens University Belfast in Enniskillen. Despite tricky weather we carded a 4th in gold fleet which we are happy with but are looking to improve on for the events in 2018. In addition to college sailing, our students have been busy yacht racing in the RCYC Autumn League. We had three sailors on board “Jump Juice”, who won

outright. We also had another student and his merry crew racing his J24, all of whom are stu-dents in the NMCI and CIT. We have plenty of events ahead of us in the New Year, check out our Facebook page.

Sailing-NMCINMCI Sailing Club has been racing out of the Royal Cork Yacht Club every Sunday since late September on our two 1720’s and J24. The J24 team came 1st in Class 3 and was 3rd overall in the 20 boat fleet. One of the 1720 teams also won the 1720 class.The J24 team were 4th in a very tight Class 3 in the October League, 1 point off 2nd place.Currently half way through the Winter Series, the J24 team are in a very strong position with two 1st’s in the three races, despite missing a race while away with CIT Sailing Club in En-niskillen team racing. The link between NMCI and CIT Sailing Clubs in racing together in both team racing and fleet racing is working well. Our plans for next semester are to carry on with our keelboat racing, and also to con-tinue our now traditional trip to France for the Hydro’s Cup, where NMCI SC have come 3rd, 1 point off 2nd in a competitive 15 boat fleet, both times we’ve competed.

Tae Kwon DoWe train every Wednesday night in the sports hall from 7-8pm under the instruction of world gold medallist and numerous international medallist, Paul Manning. At the moment we are preparing for the annual Irish Taekwondo

Intervarsities which are being held in NUIG next March. This event sees students from the majority of the Irish third level institutions competing for the most number of medals for their respective colleges. We are also looking forward to the Open Martial Arts Intervarsities which are being held in UCC in January. This competition will see the collaboration of com-petitors in the disciplines of Taekwondo, Ka-rate and Kickboxing come together to examine the strengths and weaknesses of their chosen art, and compete in the fundamental principals underpinning all martial arts.

TennisBeginners training takes place on Mondays in Eden hall from 7-9pm with a relatively large group of enthusiastic beginners. Wednesday night we have advanced training from 7-9pm also in Eden hall with coach Declan Bray with an emphasis on match play. New players are welcome. In semester two we will be compet-ing in the intervarsities competition which is on in Belfast in February and the beginner’s will be playing in an internal league and possibly against some other college teams.

VolleyballWe are a motivated group of players from all levels, supervised by an amazing coach. We train every Wednesday night from 8-10pm and sometimes host and play competitions on Sat-urdays. Feel free to join in!

CASH FARES, LEAP FARES, PRODUCTS (24 HOUR, 7 DAY & MONTHLY)

IF YOU’RE A FREQUENT BUS TRAVELLER, YOU CAN LOAD THE FOLLOWING PRODUCTS ONTO YOUR LEAP CARD AND SAVE FURTHER €€€€’S GIVING

UNLIMITED TRAVEL ON ALL CORK CITY ROUTES IN THE RED ZONE

ADULT SINGLE

INNER ZONE

CASH FARE €2.30

LEAP FARE €1.61

ADULT SINGLE

OUTER ZONE

Cash Fare€2.70

LEAP FARE €1.89

CHILD SINGLE

INNER ZONE

Cash Fare€1.30

(Valid up to 16th Birthday)

LEAP FARE €0.91

(Valid up to 19th Birthday)

CHILD SINGLE

OUTER ZONE

Cash Fare€1.60

(Valid up to 16th Birthday)

LEAP FARE €1.12

(Valid up to 19th Birthday)

SCHOOL CHILD

SINGLE (School Hours only)

Cash Fare€1.10

(Valid up to 16th Birthday)

LEAP FARE €0.77

(Valid up to 19th Birthday)

Red Zone Adult Student Child(Valid up to 19th Birthday)

24 Hour €5.60 €4.40 €3.20

7 Day €23.00 €18.00 €12.00

Month* €84.00 €67.00 €41.00

Red Zone plus Cobh & Midleton Rail – Month* €143.00 €109.00

*Month refers to calendar month eg: January Valid from 1st December 2017

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Sam Dawson (CIT SU), Alan McGrath (HEA), Oisin Hassan (USI), Eve Lewis (sparqs), Niamh Linehan (QQI), Karena Maguire (QQI), Vivienne Patterson (HEA), Michael Kerrigan (USI), Marese Bermingham (CIT) and Dr Barry O'Connor (CIT).

On Monday November 13th the Higher Education Authority (HEA), Quality and Qualifica-

tions Ireland (QQI) and the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) launched the National Student Engagement Network in Cork Institute of Technol-ogy as part of the National Student Engagement Programme (NStEP). The network aims to bring college staff and Students’ Unions from in-stitutions across Ireland together to discuss partnership, exchange ideas and develop initiatives. Delegates were warmly welcomed by CIT Presi-dent, Dr Barry O’Connor and CIT SU President, Sam Dawson.

Speaking at the launch, USI Presi-dent Michael Kerrigan said, “Student and staff partnerships are paving the way forward for improved high-er education teaching and learning, with students at the very centre. USI is proud to be supporting the work of NStEP working with institutions to assess current student engage-ment activities, and to identify areas for enhancement towards improved practice. This was just the first step. Now, with events like the network we can reflect on the work of NStEP over the past 18 months, while also

outlining the ongoing project work currently being led by the five Institu-tions which took part in the pilot pro-gramme in 2016/2017.”

Dr. Vivienne Patterson, Head of Skills and Engagement, HEA added, “The engagement of students is a key el-ement in the further development of our higher education system and the HEA therefore welcomes the launch of the National Student Engagement Network. This network, which forms part of the wider National Student Engagement Programme (NStEP), will facilitate students to be actively engaged in institutional decision making in keys areas such as gov-ernance, teaching and learning, and quality assurance to the benefit of both students and higher education institutions.”

Karena Maguire, Head of Stakehold-er Engagement from the QQI, stated, “Learner-centredness is one of the core values of QQI and, indeed, the mission of the organisation in sup-porting and promoting a qualifica-tions system that benefits both learn-ers and other stakeholders. QQI very much applauds the launch of the Na-tional Student Engagement Network.

This launch represents a key step in the establishment of NStEP as a piv-otal structure in facilitating and ena-bling the central focus on the learner perspective as co-educators within the education and training system. QQI acknowledges the strategic vi-sion and ongoing commitment of USI in engaging both QQI and HEA as partners in this important initiative.”

Special thanks to Lisa Moran, from AnSEO, for managing the logistics of the event, to Tourism and Hospitality for the use of their fantastic facilities, to Campus Catering for the excellent catering on the day and to the care-takers for their support.

The launch was followed by a se-ries of workshops showcasing best practice and examining challenges. A presentation was delivered by Marese Bermingham, Head of AnSEO, The Student Engagement Office & Head of Teaching and Learning Unit, entitled ‘Student Engagement is Everyone’s Business’. This was followed directly by a discussion panel – on the panel was Stephanie Kelly, Students’ Union VP Education, Michael Loftus, Head of Faculty of Science & Engineering, Gerard O’Donovan, Head of Faculty

National Student Engagement Programme Networking Launch proudly hosted by CIT

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of Business & Humanities and Vicky O’Sullivan, Students’ Union General Manager.

Under the Irish National Student En-gagement Programme (NStEP), train-ing is provided for Class Reps to equip them with the skills and confidence to engage effectively with issues relating to the quality of their learning. Forty CIT Students’ Union Class Reps par-ticipated in the training programme earlier this semester and feedback following the training was very posi-

tive and participants were awarded Certificates.

The programme also has assigned five national projects to five lead in-stitutions, of which CIT is one. These national projects aim to improve stu-dent engagement and partnership ac-tivities across the country and range from examining the role of Class Reps to feedback opportunities for stu-dents to looking at staff roles in stu-dent partnership. The NStEP team in CIT includes member of the Students’

Union (Sam Dawson, Stephanie Kelly, Stephanie Fogarty and Vicky O’Sullivan), and representatives from AnSEO (Marese Bermingham, Cliona Hatano and Roisin O’Grady). CIT has been assigned as Project Lead for the Staff Roles and Capacity Building Project and will also have one or two CIT/CITSU representative on each of the other projects.

For more information on NStEP see: http://usi.ie/nstep/

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A lot of people have not heard of our society “Enac-tus” or do not know what exactly this society does. We are a social enterprise society, where innovative ideas are created and implemented as a business to tackle current global social issues in accordance with the UN sustainability goals such as, poverty, quality education, clean water and sanitation, or equality. Not only does Enactus make an impact, it aims to em-power people from disadvantaged background by providing them with a sustainable business.In Ireland, there are some very serious social problems such as homelessness, inequality in many areas such as those in disad-vantaged background or due to mental health issues and many more. Enactus is aware that it is extremely hard to permanently wipe out these current issues, However, it aims to develop solu-tions that can be brought forward to help. “Cocoon” and “Trash 2 Cash”, are the two projects created by the Enactus team in CIT to tackle some of the social issues identified above.“COCOON” is an innovative idea which tackles the issue of homelessness by empowering young people who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. In Ireland the number of people sleeping rough on the streets have been on the rise for the past couple of years. “The most recent figures show a record total of 8,374 people homeless in Ireland. Nationally there are now 5,250 adults and 3,124 children homeless meaning that 37% of those living in emer-gency accommodation are children. The total number of people homeless rose by 25% from September 2016 to September 2017” (Extracted from Focus Ireland). Cocoon, is a diverse product which offers three features in one. It is a bag which can be folded out in to a tent, this provides adequate protection from the harsh weather conditions, and puts a roof on top of people’s head. The aim of this project is to be reusable, which is why it can be folded back into a bag and can be carried easily around. This reduces waste and is more financially effective for charities to distribute to the homeless. The team are currently finalising the design and will be producing the first prototype of Cocoon. This product will be fully pro-duced by young people from disadvantaged background, and gives them a sustainable income.“TRASH 2 CASH”, is another creative project developed by Enactus CIT, which aims to counter act the issue of environmental waste and the current

recycling crisis by empowering the young people who come from disad-vantaged backgrounds or suffer from mental health issues. Currently 75% of glass nationwide is being disposed of immediately after use and put in landfills. Enactus CIT saw the opportunity as glass is 100% recyclable

and was not being utilized., the team decided to come up with the project “Trash 2 Cash”, which uses recycled glass bottle such as, wine, water and beer bottles, and creates beautiful can-dle holders, glasses, vases, and more. The main objective is to provide young underprivileged people with the nec-essary skills to make these products. A key aspect of the project is these products will be sold at local markets around Cork. This ensures a transfer of a practical skill, and provides the youth with income while keeping themselves active.On 3rd of November 2017, both pro-jects were selected and presented in front of a panel of three extremely quali-fied judges from CITI Bank to develop

our projects. Enactus CIT was successful and was awarded a total of €920 to develop the two projects. This is funding very beneficial, as it allows both projects to continue to grow and develop making the ideas more successful.Enactus wants more people to join its thriving society, people from all backgrounds are wel-

come to come and develop these projects. This is an excellent opportunity to change current inadequacies for the better, and make an impact for the better. Enactus CIT believes in these projects and hopes you will too. Enactus meet every Thursday at 6pm in The Student Centre. Follow us on Facebook for more details on our upcoming events and weekly meetings. Email: enactus@citsocieties.ie Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/En-actusCIT/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/enactus_cit?lang=enFor more information please refer to http://enactusireland.org

The ONE Campaign“WE’RE NOT ASKING FOR YOUR MONEY; WE’RE ASKING FOR YOUR VOICE”On September 21st, 2017, we set up a ONE stand in the main corridor to raise awareness about extreme poverty and preventable diseases in the poorest areas, particularly in Africa. We talked about ONE and discussed Girls Education as of right now 130 million girls are out of school. We had a variety of facts and games in which people could play and learn more about the campaign and gained over 50 new members for ONE that day. One of the games we asked people to participate in was a game in which we showed a picture of Africa with 9 countries highlighted in red. They had to guess the names of these countries which are the 9 toughest countries for girls to live in right now. The countries that were highlighted in red were: South Sudan, Central African Republic, Niger, Chad, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Liberia, and Ethiopia. Statistics show that in these countries girls receive little or no education, are more likely to become child brides and are more likely to contract diseases such as HIV/Aids. For example, in Nigeria 1 out of 5 girls are married before the age of 15 and in Burkina Faso just only 1% of girls complete secondary level education. As well as that in October, I travelled to Brussels with my fellow Youth Ambassadors to attend a 3-day Youth Summit which consisted of workshops, guest speakers and lobbying with MEP’s on the final day in the European Parliament. This Summit was attended by over 200 Youth Ambassadors for ONE, who came from across Europe and as well as America, Canada, and Nigeria. On our final day we headed to the European Parliament where we would attend another workshop and have over 100 meetings with MEP’s throughout the day. We had speeches by many MEP’s such as Heidi Hautala and Siegfried Muresan who is the repertoire for the 2018 EU Budget. This day coincided with the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, in which we urged the MEP’s to keep their promise to not cut back on International Aid that is vitally needed for the poorest countries in the 2018 EU Budget. If you would like to find out more about the ONE Campaign and how you can get involved and use your voice, you can go to their website at www.one.org or visit their social media sites on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using @ONE.

“‘Enactus, is using entrepreneurial action to empower people to improve their livelihoods in an economically, socially and

environmentally sustainable way”

By Megan O’Sullivan, YA for ONE (3rd year, Early Years Education)The ONE Campaign

“WE’RE NOT ASKING FOR YOUR MONEY; “WE’RE NOT ASKING FOR YOUR MONEY;

By Megan O’Sullivan, YA for ONE (3rd year, Early Years Education)

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We are delighted to announce that the DOWN SYNDROME

CENTRE CORK has been select-ed as the main beneficiary of Rag Week 2018. They are a new Char-ity in Cork but are affiliated with the well-established Down Syn-drome Centre in Dublin.

Mission Statement ‘To create a centre dedicated to providing support and services to families and carers of people with Down syndrome; helping them to reach their full potential and creat-ing a brighter future.’

Vision That every individual with Down syndrome has the opportunity to live full and inde-pendent lives.

Ethos The ethos of the centre focuses around ‘Positivity’ providing a warm, friendly and welcoming space where we concentrate on the abilities of a child and not their disabili-ties and where each and every milestone is celebrated no matter how small by both parents and staff alike. We try to create a ‘home from home’ envi-ronment where we focus on the family unit and not just the child.

Goals • Generate a greater degree of professional

expertise in the area of early intervention services for people with Down syndrome in this country.

• Provide a permanent home for the head-quarters of The Down Syndrome Centre Cork.

• Create a family-focused service which embraces the needs of the whole family unit, and not just those of the person in the family with Down syndrome.

• Establish a ‘homeplace’ of help, sup-port and advice for the child and family throughout their lifetime.

• To offer a first and last port of call to many parents, who are battling with the frustra-tion of not having access to an adequate level of service in Ireland.

What is DOWN SYNDROME?In every cell in the human body there is a nucleus, where genetic material is stored in genes. Genes carry the codes responsi-ble for all of our inherited traits (or, in oth-er words, genes make you ‘you’) and are grouped along rod-like structures called chromosomes. In traditionally-developed individuals, each cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, half of which are inherited from each parent. Down syndrome occurs when an individual has a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21. There are three types of Down syndrome: trisomy 21 (non-disjunction), translocation and mosaicism.

Important things to knowThe most important thing to note is that Down syndrome is just a part of someone. It does not define them. People with Down syndrome are people first and foremost and deserve the respect and treatment that you would give any other person. As such it is incorrect to say “Down syndrome person”. The correct term is “person with Down syndrome” due to the fact that – as discussed – the person’s Down syndrome is only a part of what makes them who they are. Down syndrome is not a sickness or a disease, it is a genetic disorder or chromo-somal anomaly that occurs at the time of conception.The Down Syndrome Centre Cork was founded in early 2017 in response to a recognised need in the Cork region for the provision of support and facilities for fami-lies and carers of young children with Down Syndrome. Founded and run by parents of children with Down Syndrome, the purpose of the Centre is to provide three core func-tions; Diagnosis Support, Early Intervention Therapies and Long Term Family Support. These vital services can be provided only by the money raised for the Centre. De-mand is huge given the lack of support and services in the Southern Region, these children and families deserve no less. The Down Syndrome Centre receives no gov-ernment support. As a direct result, all of their initiatives are dependent on goodwill and gifts from our supporters, corporate bodies and the public at large to continue our vital work. The Down Syndrome Centre Cork is a registered Charity. All funds re-ceived and raised go directly to the pro-vision of services including: Diagnosis Support, Early Intervention Therapies, Long Term Support. The Down Syndrome Centre Cork, Forge Hill Lodge, Forge Hill, Cork. Tel: 087-1603956 Email: info@thedownsyndromecentrecork.ie Web: http://www.thedownsyndromecentrecork.ie

COMING SOON!2 6 F e b - 1 Ma r , 2 0 1 7

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Lets talk about the need to preserve our heritage and culture

now that a situation with Cork City is coming to the fore.

Ireland has many treasures that we should appreciate, but thanks to the financers, developers and politicians that make up what is called Official Ireland, not only are they not given the respect they deserve, they tend to be cleared away and effectively scarred, if not disposed of, all for the sake of greed and naked pragmatism on behalf of these aforementioned bodies.

A lot of all this was caused by the Irish Civil War that saw many beautiful and elegant structures destroyed or severely damaged in the conflict. However the mood and eth-ics that would take hold for the coming dec-ades afterwards would see not too many of these get restored anytime fast. One exam-ple would be from my home town, Macroom Castle. The castle had an elegant mansion, but that was burned to a shell in 1922. The grounds would be opened up to the pub-lic as the Town Park, GAA and Golf Links amongst other things that would be mas-sively beneficial to this day. However the mansion was never restored, and was used for things from target practise by the Fire Brigade to a Handball Practise Court. De-sire by vested interest to expand the adja-cent McEgan College (built on the Grounds in the 1930’s) would see a repairable decay act as the casus beilli to have the mansion shamefully sent under the wrecking ball in 1967; an act of vandalism that Macroom has never recovered from.

In Dublin 11 years later, archaeological dis-coveries of the last remaining Viking settle-ment of the city on Wood Quay were made while preparing the construction of the new Dublin Corporation Offices. A massive campaign by the public to preserve the last cornerstone of where Dublin began its rich history would prove unsuccessful that year. In 2008, the construction of the M3 motor-way would see a fringe of the UNESCO site that is the Hill of Tara, the ancient capital of the High Kings of Ireland, badly shaved off, a cause of many demonstrations. And in 2014-16, Kilkenny City, Ireland’s premium Medieval City would have the monstrosity that is the Central Access Scheme Bridge, whose motorway-esque structure looks hideously out of place with the gems of St Canice’s Cathedral and Kilkenny Cas-tle, ruthlessly approved and constructed in the middle of the Peace Park on the River

Nore. And this was due to vested corporate in-terests wanting to have the maximum opportu-nities via access gained out of the nearby site of the former Smithwicks Plant, when the sensi-

ble option would have been to complete the Ring Road to ease the issue regarding traffic congestion. Despite a loud and de-termined campaign from most of Kilkenny’s citizens, who were rightly concerned about the damage, the CAS Bridge would do to the city, Kilkenny City Council, An Bord Pleanala and its then-TD (now Ireland’s EU Commissioner), Phil Hogan of Fine Gael, signed the approval forms, and the mon-strosity is for there to “marvel” in awe and see no traffic plans managed fast.

Now, with Cork City facing serious and regular flooding, what is the answer to this? Instead of building a tidal barrier on the es-tuary of the River Lee, which would make greater sense, the solution that the Office of Public Works – a power-to-be that is no longer fit for purpose along with An Bord Pleanala - is that they should tear out the Georgian walls of the Quays of Cork – which form part of Cork’s heritage - where the Lee flows through, and replace them with concrete walls where water pumps would be put in place, despite recent flooding in New Orleans demonstrating doubts about its reliability. Not to mention construction of the Lee Wall going all the way along Carri-grohane Banks to Ballincollig, and thus de-stroying the habitiats of the diverse wildlife that exist there. All to satisfy the greed of developers so as to ensure the pockets for the boys are adequately lined, and they will be swift to pressure the City Council to put pen to paper with plenty of sweeteners for doing so.

But what makes this “project” moronic, even for Official Ireland’s standards, is that this will close the city down economically. This will take many years to ever get com-pleted – if the future floods do not wash the project down the Banks first – and this will lead to enormous traffic disruption. We can see the clogged infrastructure that Cork is experiencing during the rush hours, and this is going to get worse as Cork constructs the Brewery Quarter (maybe) and regener-ates the Docklands, and we all remember the bus strike earlier this year and the night-mare that it caused for all of us. Now do any of us want to imagine the disaster that this imbecilic folly will do to the economic well-being of the Southern Capital?

It is not too late to put a stop to this. Most of Cork’s businesses, enterprises and insti-tutions are joining the Love The Lee/Save Cork City Campaign to stop this folly and have the tidal barrier built. The student body can help by campaigning to the local representatives, having college events to highlight this and joining in any campaigns and following any events that Save Cork City announce on their Face-book page; and do NOT forget to like the page. All the clubs and societies should not fear to lend support, and the Erasmus body, including the International Students Society should get active in this; they will be going home to their respective countries to tell their families and friends about the amazing country Ireland is – do any of those who heard want to decide to sample Ireland for themselves only to see how Officialdom has mutated something so-charming into something hideous for corporate profit? And do consider joining forces with UCC and the Public Colleges to save the Lee; the Cork College Of Commerce have seized the initiative by having a competition to have the Lee Banks transformed and in a man-ner that will support the Tidal Barrier and regenerate the local economy (see the Irish Examiner online). And send on yer snaps to expliCIT; do not fear to be creative! After all, If the Cork Hurlers could campaign to get better conditions off the GAA County Board…. www.savecorkcity.org

CHRISTMAS IS COMING, and I am sure that all the carols and Christmas songs, that will inevitably drive us wild for the next few weeks, will be adored my many a child, and many a family. One thing does strike me in the kiddies’ carol ‘Santa Claus Is Coming to Town’. And that is the lines ‘He’s gonna find out who’s Naughty or Nice…. He knows if you’ve been Bad or Good – so BE GOOD!! for Goodness Sake’. Obviously it is a mes-sage for the kiddies to be good if they are going to get anything from Father Christmas.

But maybe it is the adults who are now long overdue for a song to ‘Be Good For Good-ness Sake’, not least for the sake of Santa and his enterprise if he is going to continue to give the kiddies pressies? Because with the pace that the Polar Ice Caps have melt-ed so rapidly this year (N.B. the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica this summer), Santa and Co – and the rest of the polar life sys-tems for that matter – may not have a home to go to in the next few years. Yeah, Donald Trump, China et al may have been naughty on that front, but surely each and every one of us have our own questions to ask if we really care about the future of the planet?

Flynner’s Flying Column

By James FlynnCovered in the festive column...Is Ireland’s heritage crumbling? The Christmas low-down? Nostalgic 70’s…

‘LIKE’�JAMES�FLYNN�ON�FACEBOOK�FOR�‘THE�FLYNNER�FILES’ (current affairs) AND�‘DA�FLYNNER�ROUNDS!’�(off-the-wall humour.)

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With Christmas coming up, I am sure, some of you are going to take the time to discover some nostalgia. And this is the time of the year that the 1970’s comes into that bit of vogue, after all a lot of Christmas songs you hear come from that era, and there will be plenty of ABBA blaring in the bars as well. Sure why not. A little 70’s Nos-talgia will be good to feed the soul in this CIT-uation. This was the decade for, believe it or not:

• The Plastic Hurley. Introduced in 1975, it was a brief curiosity with the GAA.

• ‘No EEC’ Graffiti. The old name for the EU as Ireland joined in 1972. Now who is having the last laugh as Brus-sels sells away its soul? ...

• The Safety Pin. As well as an inno-vation in day-to-day accessorising, it would inspire revolutions in many a fashion trend; starting with Punk Rock…. And speaking of….

• Ziggy Stardust. Unleashed by David Bowie in 1972, it would transform Youth Culture worldwide with his dis-tinctive and spectacular hairdo, and begin his revolution on pop.

• CB Radios. Now the refuge of the cabs of hauliers, during the late 70’s, half the population spent an un-healthy amount of time conversing on two-way citizen’s band radios, pretending to be American Truckers. The opaque precursor to today’s So-cial Media indeed…

• Jackie. The first teenage girl’s mag, it not only became the bestselling women’s mag of the decade, it be-came a must-read for their teenage brothers, eager to find out something about the female psyche. Which I presume is still going on today, albeit

with Mizz…• The Pet Rock. This sounds like what

Father Jack did with a brick, but be-lieve it or not, it was a success. It cost only a fiver, you did not have to feed it or clean it, and, like Jack when he got fed up with his brick, you could chuck it away when you lost interest. Made the inventor a multi-millionaire. But the way certain people tend to maltreat their pets, maybe he was on to something? After all, Christmas is the time when a dog is for life and not just for…

• Pirate Radio. With only Radio Eireann (now RTE Radio 1) on the air with a mostly conservative broadcast, pirate radio sprung up all over Ireland in the late 70’s. Dave Fanning would start his radio career by broadcasting five-hour Bob Dylan specials after mid-night. It would pave the way towards RTE Radio 2 (now RTE 2FM) in 1979, and by 1990, regional radio.

• Star Wars. Fiction, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Merchandising; things would NEVER be the same again, and The Force is still as Awoke as ever…

• Farrah Fawcett. ‘Charlie’s Angels’ went on air in 1976, and the golden girl of the show with her distinc-tive red swimsuit would become the poster that would sell some 12m cop-ies worldwide and catapult Farrah to instant fame.

• Macroom Mountain Dew Festival. Held in my native small town from 1976 to 1982 every Midsummer, it was the Woodstock of Irish Rock/Pop festivals. Rory Gallagher, Thin Lizzy, Blondie, Boomtown Rats, The Jam, The Sex Pistols, Tom Jones… what a time to be alive. Pick up a book on the history of the festival at Waterstones, and relics of the festival can be seen at my local at TP Cotters. Rock’s New Wave was in full swing.

• Saturday Night Fever. The soundtrack would define the Disco Era and trans-form the motivation towards watch-ing movies into launching the movie soundtrack album era. John Travolta, the Bee Gees, Yvonne Elliman… the world was hooked. And in Ireland, to get around the licencing laws then, disco bars had to sell soggy chips and crap wine.

At least the fellas could be guar-anteed a date as the gals always

waited for the man to ask them to dance. Unlike today, where standards and expectations had changed…• Petrol Queues. The West supported

Israel in their wars against the Arab World in 1973, the Arab World multi-folded the price of petrol. Petrol Queues amid fuel rationing became the norm. The era of cheap oil ended, and there is still no sign of a come-back.

• The Safe Cross Code Song. Far from being so X-Factor like with computer imagery, the one I watched, intro-duced in 1975, would be more coun-try, but nevertheless catchy.

• The Frisbee. First outdoor pastime defined as trendy.

• Munster famously beating the All-Blacks at Thomond Park in 1978.

• British Leyland. The conglomerate that ultimately destroyed Britain’s motor industry. Mini, Jaguar and Range Rover were part of this. And will the rest of Britain’s economy be going that way with the Brexit run-away train?

• Terrorism getting into its murderous vogue, notably in Northern Ireland (up to 2000) and the Middle East. And the bombs are not going to be silenced anytime soon, sadly.

• Music being piped by CIE (now Bus Eireann) on the buses. Not univer-sally popular. But now with passen-gers with their smartphones, blaring out Rhianna? Touche at last.

• Glory Days of Dublin Football as Heffo’s Army would dominate Sam Maguire.

Well, this is all just a snippet to ex-plain how some things have changed, some things have not changed all that much, and how we can take les-sons from all this to see how we can use all this to develop ourselves into more committed people for the fu-ture, especially when Ireland had still a way to go. Mind ye, the 70’s was one of the sexiest decades ever, es-pecially when people realised how love, sex and romance was no longer as “free” as it was during the 60’s, which explains why it made ABBA such a successful group in that de-cade. But whatever about it, take in the nostalgia, make the most of it, and hope ye all have a happy Christ-mas and a prosperous 2018!

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HAPPY DAYS Looking at pre-Flying Column Era expliCITs from 2015/16, and asking myself... “all these mates I met, did I REALLY become friends with such wonderful people?” Hope to meet them all out over the festive season!

MEND YER WAYS Could there please be a major cutback on the level of 12-pub tours? When you get even 40-somethings joining in with such gallivant-ing, society may need to take some serious stock. Especially since the Women’s Christmas scene was conspicuously absent last Christmas.

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